Fast And Furious At Xmas For The Crocs

YOU can trust me when I say there will not be too many eggnogs going down the hatch of Crocodiles' players and coaching staff in the next couple of days.

The fact is if we want to be serious NBL championship contenders, the Crocodiles' yule time celebrating will need to be as speedy and efficient as Santa's house visits.

Yes, we'll all endeavour to have an enjoyable time with family and friends, but the second the clock strikes midnight on Friday, it will be back to business as usual.

After we fell to a pair of disappointing losses last weekend, particularly to the Sydney Spirit, the Christmas-New Year period takes on huge importance for us.

Take our eyes off the ball for a second by getting overly caught up in the festive spirit and all of a sudden you can be free-falling down the ladder.

That's the reality of this time of year – I have seen it happen before to many teams – and with the NBL as close as ever this season, the repercussions could be as deadly.

One win or one loss could be the difference between battling for third and fourth spot – which guarantees a home final – or potentially missing out on the finals altogether. With 10 games to go in the 2008/09 regular season, we're determined to avoid the latter.

Townsville in particular have a lot of games over this holiday period, starting with the always difficult road trip to Perth on Boxing Day for a December 27 clash.

We then head home to The Swamp to battle NBL leaders the South Dragons.

They are two difficult assignments, particularly travelling to Challenge Stadium where we haven't produced the greatest record in recent times.

Our last game there in November saw us on the end of a 37-point hammering.

But the reality is, if we want to be considered one of the better teams – up there with South, New Zealand, Melbourne, Perth – we need to be able to win these tough games.

These are the sides we will be playing in the playoffs and hopefully challenging for the NBL championship trophy, so rather than fear the trips, I see them as a positive.

We have already proven we can beat these teams when we are playing at our best, so if we can repeat the dose, it can act as a real momentum builder.

Although I have indicated the team will brush over Christmas, I think our day away from the court tomorrow will have its benefits to the remainder of our campaign also.

I'll still be thinking about basketball – that just comes with the job – but sitting around with family, ripping into some ham and pulling out the bat and ball for some backyard cricket all proves a nice distraction – a mental refresher. The key, as I said, is to enjoy it but not get too distracted.

You cn read my article every Wednesday in the Townsville Bulletin.

Dead Set Shocka

Last night we (Townsville Crocs) opened up the season in Adelaide against the 36ers. An absolute disappointing effort on my behalf. I will give you a better post later on today, after I have finished licking my wounds.

Adelaide 109-82 Crocs recap
Cairns 85-75 Gold Coast recap
New Zealand 114-93 Wollongong recap

In the meantime, if you haven't heard the 2nd Episode of "The OT" (podcast) here it is.

See you later today!

Dragons Win, Crocs Have Game Winners and News

Is Pero thinking of adding sauce then taking a bite?

Tonight saw the South Dragons record their first win in the Brian Goorjian era. 97-81 was the final. Both teams play again on Sunday in Perth.

recap boxscore

My weekly Townsville Bulletin article has been moved to Wednesday during the season. Enjoy!

Tip-off on Friday night in Adelaide will mark the start of my fifteenth NBL season and some things never change. I still have a mixture of both excitement and nervousness when that that first ball goes up.

I think it would be time to give it away if I didn’t get pumped for this time of the year. What keeps me ticking along day in and day out and fuels my desire to keep working during the off season is the opportunity to win another championship and to compete against the best Australian basketball has to offer.
I am a competitor and it is my job to do everything I can to win. However, the way I go about ‘winning’ and the focus of my game has changed as I have evolved and grown as a player.

When I was young and trying to establish a reputation for myself in the league, I not only wanted the team to win, but also wanted to personally have a stat line with all the big numbers. If I didn’t accomplish both tasks, I often went home with a feeling that I had not fulfilled my objectives I had set for myself. I guess it is all part of being young and feeling invincible.

If you fast forward and compare my approach now, I will be the first to tell you that I still want to drop fifty points every time I hit the court. I just have a patience that comes with experience. I may only have twenty and they may all happen in the fourth quarter. Or it may not be my night to score, but I will be happy to quietly contribute seven rebounds and five assists to a solid team win.

This leads me to the topic of just what Croc fans can expect to see from their team this season. This year’s team may just be one in which any number of players could step up on any given night.

For instance, there will be many occasions where teams will struggle to keep Corey Williams in front of them. However, when there is a team that finds a way to keep him contained, it will be Kelvin Robertson’s night to light it up for thirty plus.

Michael Cedar has very quietly turned himself into a potential game winner for our team. “Juice” has the ability to peel off 20 points in a quarter and open a game up in a hurry.

Brad Williamson also has that ability. And, for a little extra trivia on Williamson, he currently holds the NBL record for most three point baskets made in one quarter with eight.

Of course on most nights, Rosell Ellis’ work ethic alone will get him over the line against most opponents. So it stands to reason that you should expect to see a very impressive stat line when it becomes his night to shine.

A rejuvenated Russell Hinder has already shown that he is thriving on the added responsibility give to him by Coach Trevor Gleeson. He had back to back twenty plus point games in the preseason and neither Rusty or I could remember the last time this had happened.

That leaves Daniel Egan, Cam Tovey and Steve Costanzo. We have become accustomed to Egan’s ability to ignite a team with one of those timely tip dunks that have become a sort of calling card for the Fan Man.

Tovey, on the other hand, is the guy that will come up with some timely plays on the defensive end of the court that the team will feed off of. His long fame allows him to make plays that most of us could only hope for.

Costanzo is a work in progress but there will be points scored this season off the back of a great screen from the big young local talent. Or there will be that chance for him to reel in a crucial rebound. Once he finds his feet opportunities will be waiting for him left and right.

I know it may seem blindly optimistic to believe that every player on a roster has the ability to produce a game winning play. Maybe it is the paternal side shining through from my years of experience. I will say that I haven’t had to dig to deeply this season to find a strength in each and every member of this year’s team. And this is something I can honestly say has not always been so easy in my 15 years.

The Crocs take on the 36ers in Adelaide on Friday, then return home next week for our home opener.

News:

- The West Australian “I do remember what happened last time and it didn’t sit well,” Mark Worthington said. “Shawn (Redhage) plays hard and I play hard, so something has to give.”

Worthington and Redhage are worth the price of admission and a quote.

- Video of CJ Bruton talking up the Breakers chances.

- James Harvey named Gold Coast Blaze captain.

- Wollongong Hawks feel they should have better odds.

- The Daily Telegraph "Within the first five possessions coach Jim Calhoun said 'This is a no-brainer. This kid is special.'" University of Conneticut Coach Jim Calhoun talks about Sydney prospect Ater Majok.

- Shane Heal has a weekly column on the Gold Coast.

- 36ers will be entertaining?

- Aaron Bruce talks to his local rag.

- Gold Coast Bulletin "I take it with a pinch of salt -- what he says is what he says," Pero Cameron said. "If you talk about yourself, I think there are a lot of areas I could be better in and you work at it during the season."

Blaze Coach Brendan Joyce wants Cameron to slim down into game shape. Good luck to Joyce with this. Pero will never be a slim man.

- Townsville junior looking to impress.

- Mark Slocombe's Fast Facts for round 1.

- Crocs coach Trevor Gleeson eyeing a top four finish.

- If you love The Glove (Gary Payton) and the Reign Man (Shawn Kemp), this is for you.

- Has basketball become boring? Join in the debate with A Stern Warning.

- Ronny Turiaf and Rod Benson seen together!

A Bad Year...Sometimes It Happens

Thurston and his Cowboy teammates would be trying everything to get out of their funk.


The million dollar question around town right now is, “What is wrong with the Cowboys?”.

So many of us like to sit around tossing ideas back and forth about what we would do to ‘fix’ the team. But you know what? Sometimes your favourite team just has one of those bad seasons that they would rather forget and you could never predict. I think it is safe to say this is that year for our Cowboys.

Similarly, if you were to cast your mind back a few years to the Crocodiles team of 2005/06, we had arguably the most talented roster ever assembled in Townsville and could only manage a paltry 9-23 season.

What mystery factor is it that can cause such an unforeseen turn around when things just look so right on paper?

When a team is in the middle of one of these types of slumps, you will often see a good portion of dedicated players putting in extra time on the practice field in an attempt at rectifying the situation. Although it is easy for fans who see players once a week to forget, most of us have a lot of pride in what we do and never want to be embarrassed week in and week out.

Players aren’t alone in their search for the answer. If there is any coach who is not putting in extra time when their team is down, whether it be by spending extra time in on video or attempting to tweak the practice schedule, they should find another profession. These guys are usually desperate to find their way back to the winner’s circle.

I remember Coach Ian Stacker exhausting many avenues in his attempt to turn the ship. One example included schedule changes. His practice schedule for years had included two on court sessions a day. He knocked that back to one halfway through that 05/06 mess, hoping his players would respond because we would be fresher for games.

And the list of changes didn’t stop there. His pre-game motivational talks started to venture into previously uncharted waters, like watching Freddie Mercury and his band Queen perform or discussions of the great wars that helped shape our world.

The head coach will try anything to find a motivational technique that works for his troops.

So the point I am trying to make is that right now, individually, I would guess that most people involved in the Cowboys organization are putting in the effort that should be getting results. Unfortunately, when you are stuck in the middle of a season like this, all that effort can seem to compound the problem.

Again looking back to my own experience, our team would meet all too often to discuss how we were going to break out of our funk. It almost seemed that our every moment was spent concentrating on how we would fix the problem. I think this can become detrimental to the cause. There is a fine line between exploring a problem and dwelling on it.

So if I were to put in my two cents to the Cowboys, I would remind them that their skills have not suddenly been lost overnight. They have nothing more to lose, so maybe it is time to just play. There is something to be said for remembering to trust your instincts and for putting a hault to the over-analysis of ‘the problem’. Football is what many of these guys have been doing most of their lives.

And as a last resort, there is always the old saying, “Sometimes you need a bad year to appreciate the good ones”. It may not answer any of our questions about this season, but from a player’s perspective, nothing could be closer to the truth.

You can find my article in the Townsville Bulletin every Saturday.